Earth's Last Daughter, Krypton's First Hero
by sioduskseeker
Summary: In which a refugee from a doomed planet meets the heiress to a fortune, but not in the way you might expect.
1. Wishing on a Star

AN: This story assumes that Lena was born a few years before Kara, which, of course, is incorrect

There are a few italicized words in Kryptonian, written in English letters and following the Doyle conventions which I researched (I know, I'm a mega nerd) on

 **Chapter 1: Wishing on a Star**

Lena Luthor was only fourteen when doom came to Earth. Vast core-drilling operations had brought untold riches to the wealthy, including her family, but ultimately brought ruin to them all. Her adoptive parents were blind to anything besides their balance sheets and bottom lines, so the task of trying to end the Danger fell to her father's estranged brother, Leonard Luthor. Before the inception of the Danger, Leonard has always doted on Lena and her brother Lex (in a way their parents never did), but as Leonard and his conspiracy-minded friends caught wind of the impending catastrophe, and the self-serving small spaceships being built by the wealthy to avoid it, he grew more distant, the gleam of joy in his eyes replaced by a cold glare.

Oh, how her father had ranted when Leonard gave his first speech about the Danger, how he had blustered when Leonard led revolutionaries against his brother's industries, how he had raved when Leonard turned his captured factories towards producing spaceships for all.

Of course, that all paled in comparison to the tirade he launched into as Leonard held him and Lillian at gunpoint, while he motioned for Lena and Lex to take the pods meant for their parents and escape. Lex complied with barely a backward glance, but Lena had to give her uncle a final embrace, had to fight back tears when she saw his eyes briefly go back to the way they once were.

"Don't worry Lee, I'll make it out somehow. There's still a few months left. I just need to make sure that you two are safe. Lord knows you and Lex deserve those pods far more than these two ever did," he said, gesturing with his gun towards the icy countenance of Lillian and the red, still-muttering visage of Lionel.

Lex turned back for a moment to address Leonard. "But Uncle, where will we go? None of the colonies will accept us because of our parents, and the stations of the rich will be closed to us because of you. We are caught in the middle, victims of circumstance."

Leonard's gaze softened once more. "I'm truly sorry for you both. I think the best thing you could do would be to head for a faraway colony, land somewhere deserted, and adopt false identities once you reach a city. You can use the radios in the pods to let me know where you land, and I'll try and find you once I escape."

He looked towards the pod bay door suddenly. "I hear more of these two's lackeys coming. I think my boys and I can stave them off, but it'd be best if you two left now.

Lena wanted to say more, in case this was the last time she'd ever see her uncle or her parents, but Lex grabbed her by the arm and led her to the pods. "No time to look back Lee. Uncle's right, we have to leave."

They quickly strapped themselves in and set the navigation system for New Tibet, one of the farthest of Earth's colonies. Lena looked back one last time before the cryosleep system kicked in, seeing the familiar sight of Lionel yelling, Lillian coldly muttering, and Leonard doing a mixture of both, perhaps for the last time. As she felt her eyelids start to close, Lex spoke to her through the radio.

"Don't worry, sister of mine. We're Luthors. We'll find a way."

She wanted to pour her heart out to Lex in that moment, but sleep was coming fast, so she decided that could wait. "See you on New Tibet."

They never would.

Kara Zor-El loved to look at the stars. She just couldn't get over the fact that each of those tiny pinpricks of light in the universe's cloak of darkness was actually a sun, each one similar to their own Rao, yet each unique in its own way. And most of those stars had planets, and lots of those planets had life! She had met aliens of course, since Krypton was a relatively important power on the galactic scale, but she couldn't help thinking of how amazing it would be to discover some uncontacted race, to be the first to welcome them into the galactic community.

This was the reason that she secretly wanted to join the Military Guild like Aunt Astra. Her father wanted her to follow him into the Science Guild, her mother wanted her to join with the Justice Guild, but she wasn't convinced. She loved the sciences, and she had an interest in justice, but nothing spoke to her more than becoming an Explorer with the Military Guild. Maybe she would ask Aunt Astra for an introduction to the Head Explorer in a few years, once she was done with Second School and on her Year of Rao, before she chose her Guild.

She didn't know that her wish, to introduce a new race to Kryptonian culture and form a new bond between Krypton and elsewhere, would be coming true, sooner than she thought.

Kara would've gazed upwards all night if she could, but Kelex arrived and informed her that her parents wished to see her, interrupting her musings. She reluctantly left the balcony of her relatively large Argo City house and headed inside. She found her mother and father sitting on opposite sides of their large dining table, and she groaned inwardly. They never sat like that unless they were about to give her a lecture.

Zor-El cleared his throat and began. "Kara dearest, your mother and I are very proud of you being one of the few Guildless children, as we have tried to emphasize to you many times before."

Most Kryptonians were given their guild assignment at birth by the probability matrix which governed many aspects of Kryptonian life, but Kara was one of the few children whose ideal task could not be determined by the artificial sentience. As such, she was Guildless, a mark of skill which was considered to be bestowed directly by Rao. That meant that after Second School, she would take a Year of Rao, in which she wandered the planet as an ascetic, giving thanks to Rao at as many holy places as she could, then return home and choose her Guild.

Zor-El continued. "We understand that you may choose any Guild you wish after you spend your year praising Rao. However, Alura and I would like you to accompany us to a few more of our respective Guilds' various functions, so that you may achieve a deeper understanding of the current position of the House of El. Alura is presiding over the judgement of a number of Finance Guild leaders next _duhv_ -cycle, and I shall be giving a seminar on the principles behind my cold fusion vehicle at the Atomic City Science Guild soon thereafter. We expect you to attend both. El Mayarah."

With that her father stood to leave their dining hall, but not before ruffling her hair for a moment as he passed. Kara sighed. She'd never understand her father. He was almost always a straight-laced man of science, somewhat cold and distant, but he always knew how to make her feel just a little bit better. Nine days out of ten, he didn't crack so much as a grin, but Kara loved those rare days when she brought a wide smile to his normally stoic face.

Alura, still clad in her blue raiment of High Justice, strode over to her daughter and sat on the floor nearby, motioning for Kara to do the same.

"Kara, there's another matter that we need to discuss with you, but Zor decided to leave this one to me. He had a conference to rush off to."

She took a deep breath.

"Kara, you know, of course, that our probability matrix is responsible for assigning us to our Guilds, finding compatible mates for us of equivalent ability and taste, and creating our offspring so as to eliminate genetic deficiencies."

"Yes, I do know a good deal about that," Kara responded somewhat snippily. She wasn't entirely convinced that the probability matrix was worthwhile. Sure, it was nice to eradicate some disease, but what about love, the courtship and companionship in the Old Poems? Of course, her parents loved each other now, but they surely hadn't when Zor first put the lesser Bracelet of El around Alura's wrist. Kara couldn't help it, she was a hopeless romantic, though no one had experienced true romance on Krypton in generations.

Alura pressed on. "Kara, your father and I went a few days ago to begin the process to determine your ideal mate with the matrix. That's what I'd like to talk to you about. It takes a few years for the matrix to determine the exact person you're most compatible with, but it was able to provide a few guidelines after this first session."

Her expression softened. " _Inah,_ daughter, I know not how you will take this news, but…"

She was interrupted by an alert signal. Kara watched as Uncle Non appeared on the vid-com and began to hurriedly talk to Alura.

"High Justice, we've detected some sort of medium metallic object headed towards Argo City. We've scanned it thoroughly and it does not appear to be any sort of weapon. In fact, we're detecting a single faint lifeform signature. Its trajectory should bring it down in Ra-Thon Park, relatively close to your dwelling, in fact. The Governor-General and Assembly Chief are both offworld as of now, so the decision falls to you. How should we proceed?"

Alura thought for a moment, then gave what would prove to be one of the most important pronouncements Kara was ever able to witness. "Let it be. In fact, send a gravity manipulator to give it a safe landing."

She waited until Non saluted in acknowledgement, then signed off of the vid-com, grabbing Kara by the hand and heading for the door. Kara felt slightly confused.

"Where are we going, mother?"

Alura smiled knowingly. "Your father isn't the only one with an aptitude for the sciences, _inah_. The probability matrix actually let me choose between Science and Justice, did you know that?"

With that, they headed towards the expected touchdown location of this object, maintaining a safe distance of course. A few minutes after they arrived, the vaguely spherical object hurtled down through the atmosphere towards them, but it slowed noticeably as the gravity drone engaged, coming to a halt lightly near the statue of Ra-Thon the Wise.

Kara rushed over to examine it, marveling at the strange, somewhat clunky, clearly alien design. Alura let her, since Non's monitors had already declared it safe.

About a minute later however, Kara gasped in surprise. Not half a minute later, Alura followed suit.

Kara gasped because she had reached the far side of the pod and found a window, through which she spied the most beautiful being she had ever gazed upon, a girl around her own age with skin as pale as moonlight and hair the color of the blackest night, both rarities on Krypton, where Rao tended to brown skin and bleach hair. Her eyes were closed as if in dreamless sleep. She just seemed so…peaceful.

Alura gasped slightly later because a chunk of the pod, which had evidently come off during reentry, fell from the top of one of Ra-Thon's mountain-trees, where it had evidently been lodged for a short time, and impacted with the gravity drone with a thundering crunch.

Ordinarily, this would not be a huge issue. The drone would simply vent all its gravitons if it was damaged, so that it would not cause destruction with improper gravity use, and then attempt to self-repair. It had been proven long ago that graviton radiation was not harmful to most sapient life, so very rarely was anyone harmed in a gravity drone accident.

This was a rare occasion. The burst of gravitons reacted in some strange manner with one or another of the systems on the strange pod, causing an eruption of some new form of energy.

Alura could do nothing but gasp as her only daughter, the future of the House of El, was engulfed in a sphere of orange energy which radiated from the pod.


	2. Sometimes the Stars Listen

AN: Hey guys, I forgot that this site doesn't let you put in site names in your fics, so if you just search 'kryptonianinfo' you'll find it

Also, I just wanted to thank everyone who's favorited, followed, and reviewed. This is my first ever "published" work (I'm writing a novel slowly, so I wanted to write some fanfic on the side to test the waters), so I appreciate all the support. I hope this story exceeds your expectations. Without further ado, here's…

 **Chapter 2: Sometimes the Stars Listen**

Kara Zor-El knew when she woke that something was wrong. She'd been over by the pod just a few seconds ago, hadn't she? Why was she all the way over here, next to the statue of Ra-Thon? Why was her vision all foggy, why did her head feel fuzzy?

As she looked around and tried to remember, her gaze fell upon the charred remnants of what looked like the gravity manipulator that had slowed down the pod. She wondered briefly how it had ended up on the ground. The self-repair programs on drones like that tended to be pretty effective, so it had to have been some sort of fairly major accident to completely incapacitate the drone that way. It was then that she noticed the jagged piece of metal that protruded upwards from the wreck. It seemed…off, somehow.

As she put the pieces together, the fog began to clear from her mind. The pod…it had seemed to be missing a chunk on the far side…if that impacted the drone…graviton burst…alien technology…the girl!

Kara ignored the fuzziness of her mind as she pushed herself off the ground. Oh Sweet Rao, the girl! She had to be okay, right? The universe wouldn't taunt her with that sort of ethereal beauty only to pull it away in an instant, would it?

She only vaguely realized that her mother had covered the distance between them, had put her arms around her as if to assure herself that Kara was still there, still in one piece. She absently hugged Alura back for a few seconds, then shook her arms off and continued.

As she got closer, she realized that the pod was in a far worse state than it had been originally. Its delicate steering mechanisms had been crushed, and its engines looked to have been melted, perhaps having reacted to the graviton burst.

But that was not what she cared about at this point, not at all frankly. Whatever sort of reaction that occurred had also flipped the pod on its side, so she had to round another corner before she arrived at that same viewport where she had been what felt like seconds ago. What she saw set her mind racing.

First of all, the girl was okay. She had some minor bruising, perhaps a few cuts, but on the whole, she seemed to be fine. Physically at least.

Secondly, Kara noticed that the hum that she had vaguely heard in the back of her mind the first time she was here had slowed and deepened, as if whatever machine that created it was fading, running out of energy, leaving its fellows behind. Kara's third observation, which she made only moments later, informed her that this failing machine was almost certainly some sort of cryosleep unit, explaining the deep slumber the girl had appeared to be in earlier.

Her third observation was that the girl's eyes had begun to flutter open. Merciful Rao and Malignant Cythonna, those eyes! They shone like an emerald possessed, and they beckoned like a mysterious forest. Kara was entranced anew.

She shook her head, trying to clear it of thoughts like those. She had no idea who this was or from where she came. She couldn't let this girl's first impression of her be that of a lovesick puppy.

She put the most welcoming smile she could on her face, the one that her Early Level instructor had said could turn Arctic City into Ocean City, and placed her palm on the glass.

The girl, finally able to keep her eyes from closing, gave her a small bemused smile, and did likewise.

Everything was right with the world.

Until the girl began screaming.

Lena Luthor knew when she woke that something was wrong. Something besides the feeling in her limbs that she didn't quite know how to categorize, which she chalked up to a simple aftereffect of cryosleep.

The first and most obvious thing was that her viewport was almost facing the ground, meaning that her pod had landed at an extreme angle. She could see some sort of cityscape through the port, but not one that she immediately recognized.

The second thing was that her navigation computer seemed to be severely broken. The screen was cracked, and the display indicated that she had traveled light years further than intended, which couldn't be right, could it? The cryosleep display was similar, showing that she had been asleep for years, not the month or so that she surely had been.

She was so caught up in staring at the readouts and fighting to keep her eyes open that it took her a while to notice that someone had come over to look into a viewport. She was a girl around Lena's own age, and she was radiant. Her hair was like the first rays of the sun that lit the sky in the early dawn. Her eyes reminded Lena of the pond near one of the Luthors' many estates where she and Lex would sometimes sneak to for fishing.

But what spoke to her most was the smile that the girl broke into upon catching her eyes, a smile that felt like it was for her and her alone, a smile that was better than any shield, a smile that weakened her knees and strengthened her soul.

She did her best to smile back, noticing that the girl had placed her hand on the glass of her viewport, and raised her arm to do the same.

Unfortunately, this small movement finally made her realize what it was that she felt in the back of her mind. It was pain, unbearable pain, pain that broke her carefully constructed mental walls in a second, forcing her to screech like a demon. She tried to focus on the image of that mysterious girl's smile, but she felt that even that memory wouldn't be enough to save her unless something changed.

As High Justice, Alura was often required to stand in for more senior officials in making important citywide or even planetwide decisions. This necessitated the ability to make lightning-fast and informed decisions, even when information was lacking. There had been very few occasions in her life during which she felt overwhelmed and completely unprepared.

This was one of them.

That is not to say however, that she did nothing. In fact, she did many things all at once.

As she ran towards her daughter, where Kara was slumped against Ra-Thon's monument, she made three calls on her vid-com. One was to the Medical Guild, for obvious reasons. Perhaps Non had already contacted them, after having his gravity manipulator disabled, but it was better to be _voi_ than _doshai_. Secondly, after explaining her situation to the Medical personnel as quickly as she could, she placed a call to Zor. No conference of his was worth not being here for their daughter. When the call refused to connect, she placed a call to Kelex instead, instructing him to seek out Zor and relay the message. To his credit, he did so immediately, rather than employing his usual idle chatter.

She almost shed a tear of joy when she saw Kara stand and begin to walk. She couldn't help herself; she pulled her daughter into a tight embrace, which Kara returned for a few moments before breaking free.

Alura was confused for a moment, so she followed Kara towards the pod. A small smile came to her lips when she saw the girl cocooned inside, whom Kara was obviously checking on. That was so like her daughter, to ignore anything that happened to her in favor of making others feel better. This quality was what convinced her to allow her uncle Kal-Ar to take Kara with him to the Medical Guild a few years ago. It wasn't until that day when they learned that Kara fainted at the sight of too much blood. Perhaps she wasn't quite cut out for every Guild after all.

It warmed her heart to see her daughter place her hand on the window of the pod, giving the girl inside a blinding smile. She was being so welcoming and smiling so openly to a girl, most likely an alien, that she had never seen before. This was the true embodiment of El Mayarah on display in front of her.

It alleviated her worries when she saw the girl do the same, and smile as best she could. Perhaps everything would be alright.

It curdled her blood to hear the girl scream like Cythonna's hounds were coming for her.

Kara had always taken pride in her ability to think quickly and make snap decisions. One of the moments she was most proud of in her life had been when she had saved Assembly Chief Kul-Nex from major injury when he had come to speak at her Second School. She was being recognized along with several other students for exemplary performance on their High Level nuclear physics and military science examinations, and Kul-Nex was at the podium in their School's Debating Hall congratulating them. He was flanked by several Assembly Guards, and it seemed as if only Kara noticed that one of the Guards kept fidgeting, putting his finger on the trigger of his las-gun and taking it off again, over and over.

At first, she had put it out of her mind, but her brain had gone into alert mode when she saw the Guard raise his weapon slightly. She sat forward in her chair, mind racing, already determined to try and protect the Chief, though her mother often quarreled with him.

When she saw the rogue Guardsman raise his _zuget_ into a firing position, she acted, diving towards the Assembly Chief to tackle him off the stage, which led to the traitor missing the only volley he was able to blast before he was disarmed by his fellows.

Kul-Nex had been understandably confused for a few minutes, but once he understood that a student had saved him from serious injury at best and death at worst, he had been quite gracious, had promised her that she would get a medal for this.

And indeed she had, in one of the most memorable moments of her fairly short existence. The _Jrogr-Ahmpahr,_ the Governor-General of Argo City himself, had awarded her the Ar-Go Medal for Uncommon Bravery, named for the mythical hero for whom the city was also named, a beautiful award carved from _do-khahsh,_ a rare mineral occasionally found near the city in seemingly random locations, living up to its moniker of 'Dark Wind.'

However, all of that, even the medal which she had hung above her desk, paled in comparison to the situation she found herself in now, trying to save this girl who had so captured her attention from whatever was making her scream as one possessed. She frantically cast her eyes about, trying to find the release mechanism to open the pod and try to understand what was happening.

She decided that panicking would not be the way to improve the situation, so she did her best to apply that same cold Kryptonian logic that she used to save Kul-Nex. Directly beneath the window, she found a small switch, which she was about to flip until her mother grabbed her hand and her father came into view, having apparently rushed back from wherever he had been.

"Hold, _inah._ We do not know if she can breathe in our atmosphere. Give Zor a moment to scan her with his mediviewer."

Her father quickly did so, visibly trying to hurry as the girl continued to writhe, her screaming having faded somewhat. He looked at the readouts in surprise, before showing them to Kelex, who Kara just noticed had also arrived.

Kelex gave his opinion. "It seems as though the material of her pod itself is harming her, emitting some sort of radiation that is almost imperceptible. While she was in cryosleep, her body had been able to fight it off relatively well, but now that she has awoken, her cells are being attacked. It seems that whatever reaction has occurred has bonded some of the faculties of the cryosleep system into herself, so her body is still fighting as best it can, but it is losing. We need to move her, now, to get her away from any fragments of her pod. Fortunately, her system is similar enough to our own so that she can indeed survive on Krypton."

The family worked together quickly to do so, releasing the viewscreen and moving the girl towards the direction of their house. The farther they moved away, the less violent the girl's reactions were, until she eventually calmed a great distance away, within view of the El grounds.

Alura spoke for the first time in a few minutes, breaking the silence that had hung over them.

"Kara, _ukiem,_ we need to go back to the pod now. The Medical Guild will be here soon, and we need to explain what happened. Kelex will watch over her."

Kara looked up at her mother from where she was kneeling next to the girl, and she had an uncommon determination in her eyes.

"I'm not leaving her mother. You and father can explain what happened well enough. We will be here when they are ready to help her."

Alura sighed, knowing that this issue wasn't worth fighting over. She motioned to her husband, and they began to walk back to the center of the park.

Before they left, Zor-El turned to his daughter and patted her on the shoulder.

"I'm proud of you, Kara. You acted just as an El is expected to today."

Alura turned to Zor as they headed away and lowered her voice so Kara wouldn't hear.

"What will we do, _shovuh_? Kara seems really attached to this girl. I don't think she'd be willing to send her away. Did that look like Earthic script on the pod to you?"

"Indeed it did, dearest. Astra's Explorers had reported strange seismic imbalances the last time they were in that sector, but I had never thought…"

"We don't know for sure Zor. Earth may be all right. But what if it isn't? What will we do then?"

Zor-El looked at her and answered quickly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"We take her in and raise her as our own."


	3. Cold Dreams Set In

AN: Here's another chapter for y'all! I'll try to post as often as I can, but I'm not sure exactly how often it'll be. Hopefully the gap won't be too long.

In the 'book quote' that starts off this chapter, the italicized text is the quote. Any words in regular text during the quote are in Kryptonian.

Also, remember that English is not Kara's first language. You'll see what I mean.

 **Chapter 3: Cold Dreams Set In**

 _It is no surprise that the House of El has always been welcoming of aliens, of those of other cultures, as the position of Chief Negotiator of the Diplomatic Guild has been held by an El for generations. What is somewhat surprising however, is their pronounced hatred for Daxam, given that the first El was in fact born on Daxam centuries ago._

 _I think, though, that when you hear the story of Na-El, first of her name, you will understand._

 _It began, as I said, centuries ago, only a generation or three after the Colony War. This was before the Upheaval and the advent of the Council, so Krypton was still ruled by a_ Bythgr, _a despot of supreme power…_

-Excerpt from _The Untold Story of El: A Look at the History of the Word and the House_

Lena Luthor hated feeling the way she did now; she knew she was dreaming, but there was nothing she could do to wake up. To make matters worse, the images she saw lacked any sort of coherence, being more random flashes than any sort of story.

She saw herself walking down a street, like no street she had ever seen. The buildings were angular, metallic, almost chaotic in their forms, the street seemingly woven from light. The light that shone down from above was reddish, as if she was viewing the whole scene through half of those cheap 3D glasses, but she couldn't turn her head to investigate the sun. And the people! They were dressed…formally, she supposed, but in a style unlike any she had seen. And their vehicles, they flew!

"Krypton," a voice whispered. "I welcome you to Krypton. You will be safe here, under the light of Rao."

Lena was already feeling overwhelmed, but then the scene changed.

She was in a secluded alley, having evidently left the street far behind. A group rounded the corner in front of her, wearing similar clothing to the rest, but having obscured their faces with strange masks.

"It's her," one of the figures shouted, but she could hardly hear him. Although, she countered herself, this was a dream after all. She had never been one to dream vividly, certainly not enough to hear individual voices.

The figures seemed to recoil from her, though she couldn't imagine why, and began to raise the weapons which she had only just notice they held in their gloved hands.

Lasers sped towards her, but then slowed. Lena was surprised, but her surprise gave way to a cold fury. In fact, a chill flowed through her entirety at that moment, and she raised her hands towards the masked men to…what, exactly?

It seemed that she would not find out now, however, as her consciousness shifted away, towards other images.

She saw the girl who had approached her pod, flanked by two figures who she assumed were her parents. The majority of their features were obscured, however, as the girl's hair was glowing so brightly as to obscure their faces. Lena found herself wondering how the girl's hair was so light, given that her parents both had dark hair.

"Kara Zor-El," the voice whispered again. "Zor-El and Alura."

She sped past the three of them after a moment though, and found herself looking at two new shadowy figures who stood behind a large holographic projector. They seemed to be examining a planetary projection, though the planet in question looked to be much larger than Earth, its continents arranged differently than she was accustomed to. One of them pointed out some sort of troublesome area, which flashed red, and the other figure put their hand up to their face in the classic thinking position, lost in their musings.

She did not have much time to analyze their dilemma, as she now ended up in some sort of large building, suffused with the same red glow she had seen earlier. The room she was in had dozens of different sorts of rocks in what looked to be glass cases, so perhaps she was in a museum. The girl who had approached her was by her side, and pointed over to some sort of mineral which emitted a faint orange glow. Lena approached it, to admire its sheen, and found herself seized suddenly by that same inexplicable pain which she remembered so well and already despised. The girl rushed to her, and Lena felt herself finally waking.

"You are safe here, _bysh._ I will always do my best to protect you."

She heard the voice again, more clearly this time.

Kara, that must be her name.

Astra In-Ze was on a mission. She needed to find her sister and berate her, subtly, for not letting her know immediately that something had happened to Kara. Why was it that she only heard it from her father, who had heard it secondhand from Non? Alura should've made informing her third only to the Medical Guild and Zor-El.

Astra shook her head as she weaved her open-top skycar through the Argo City traffic. Her sister could use a little argument every now and then. Being the voice of the law for an entire city could easily get to one's head, even one so selfless as her sister. She needed to be knocked down a few pegs. Had she forgotten that it was Astra who had named Kara, had been divinely inspired by Rao's life-giving rays, the name floating down upon them like an ancient carriage gently descending from above? Who had the honor of placing the tiara upon Kara's head, like some coronation of old, when she had won the Argo City Youth Fencing Competition? Alura? Nay, it was Astra! Astra had always been there for Kara, had held her when she was sick while Alura had deemed it more important to slave away to the ideals of justice.

Astra shook her head once more. She was going too far, letting some of her more repressed emotions surface. She didn't really feel that way about her sister that often. Usually, they got along just fine, just like when they were children, when they would conspire to steal copies of the Old Poems from their father's library before In-Ze could catch them. Astra was usually the one to do the deed, while Alura hung back and put on a face of innocence, but it was a testament to their adaptability that they could switch roles at the drop of a hat.

Sometimes Astra regretted the silver streak she had added to her hair. It had grated, of course, when people had confused her for Alura, as she was sure that her sister never had to face the opposite problem. However, it saddened her somewhat to contemplate that she and her sister would never be quite as close as they had once been. They used to operate in perfect unison, so much so that it was not unheard of for Astra to attend Alura's Advanced Ethics classes and take notes while Alura donned Astra's cadet uniform and drilled, each in lockstep with what the other would have done.

The silver streak changed all that, a permanent separation between them that still stung, though it had freed Astra from her sister's shadow. Astra snorted. Where was this sentimentality and emotion coming from, all of a sudden? It must be the dreams.

For the past year or so, Astra had dreamed dark dreams, dreams of suffering, of loss. An entire planet in flames, families split from each other, entire cities succumbing to forces they could not hope to contain. Some escaped, flying away on silvery threads, but most were confined to the roiling surface, living out their twisted desires in the moments before everything was wiped away. It was…beautiful in a way, the darkness in men's souls being scoured by cleansing flame, but for her, the terror it brought far outweighed the beauty it may have possessed.

The dreams did not occur every night, but when they did, they gripped her mind harder than any other dream ever had. And always, sometime in the early morn, before the dreams let her go, she would see a procession of individuals flash by her mind's eye.

At first, she could not get a good look at any of them, as her inner eye sped along the line too quickly for her to make out their features. By now though, it had happened often enough that she had a passing familiarity with all the figures in the line, even if she didn't recognize many of them.

The first few, she did recognize. Zor-El's brother Jor was there, at the head of the line. Their father, the Chief Negotiator Lon-El, followed suit. Then came Astra herself, the silver streak shining brightly. Her father was next, and he often had a look of betrayal on his face that made Astra clench her fists when she remembered it. No one would betray him and live, she swore it.

The next figure wore similar attire to the Kryptonians, but he was different enough to where Astra could not place him. Perhaps he was from a colony? He looked to be in his teenage years, perhaps a few years older than Kara, and Astra could tell that he was contradiction, hated and defended in equal measure. He seemed to be of high status, with rich clothes and a look of privileged boredom on his face, but when Astra looked again, she knew that this was a veneer. He had the potential to be strong, to be courageous, but right now he was stuck, trapped in a gilded cage.

The final four figures were most definitely aliens, though they resembled Kryptonians to a high degree. There was no script on their clothing, no identifying marks that would lead her to their planet of origin, but she had been doing research in her rare spare moments nonetheless.

The first was a man with darker skin than almost anyone she had ever met on Krypton. He was relatively young, and he gave an easy smile as Astra's inner eye moved past him, but she knew that he could be dangerous if provoked.

The second was an older man, whose hair had begun to gray, and whose eyes flashed between extremes of cold and warmth. Astra knew innately that this man was a leader, truly someone to be reckoned with.

The third was a young woman with auburn hair cut short and a steely gaze that was wiser than her years. She was the only figure who was armed, wielding what looked like an old slugthrower rifle which she balanced on her shoulder.

The last figure had at first been static like the rest, an image of a girl around Kara's age with jet-black hair and striking green eyes. However, in recent weeks, this image has started to fluctuate between this girl and Kara, and the temperature Astra's dream-self felt had also began to fluctuate, just like the emotions in the eyes of the leader earlier in the line.

It irked Astra to no end that she could remember many things about her dreams, but she could never quite figure out whether she was seeing Krypton or another planet. She had been drilling those under her command even harder in the past months just in case.

She realized that, lost in thought, she had reached the park, and she berated herself mentally for losing track of her surroundings.

Alura was somewhat surprised to see her sister arrive before the Medical Guild in that flashy skycar of hers. She kept her face blank as Astra approached her and knelt.

"High Justice."

"Astra _Ampahr._ Rise, _ie._ You need not bend your knee to me."

Astra raised her eyebrow at Alura's dismissal of formality, but stood as she saluted.

"Forgive me for intruding, _ie,_ but I could not stop myself from coming to check on Kara. In-Ze did not provide me with a quality explanation as to what occurred, though I suspect much of that was due to Non's usual curtness when he informed our father."

Alura didn't know whether to smile or grimace. Astra was making light of her husband's lack of words, but she was also nudging at her sister for forgetting to inform her directly. Instead, she chose to do neither, and proceeded to give Astra an explanation which she hoped would reach the desired quality.

Soon afterwards, the medi-flyer arrived, bringing with it a team of three Healers. Zor-El began to explain the situation, while Alura and Astra examined the pod more closely.

It had suffered much damage in its ordeal, but was also remarkably intact. It was no longer spaceworthy, of course, but many of its computer systems could perhaps be reinitialized.

"What I am most curious about," Astra remarked after a period of silence, "is why the pod ended up here. We know that Earth has a number of colonies. Why did the auto-pilot head in this direction instead of towards a colony? Who could have even programmed it in such a manner? We have had no official contact with the Earthlings. They would not know that any hospitable planets were in this sector, much less one more advanced."

"I suppose we shall not know for sure until the Earth girl wakes," Alura pointed out.

If you were to ask Kara Zor-El to quantify the emotions she was feeling, she would not be able to give you an answer. She could prove No-Ar's Law of Energy Conservation, could hold her own in a debate of the pros and cons of Old Arctic Ethics. She could even write a satisfactory treatise on why the last _Bethgr_ had lost her throne due to an overreliance on armored divisions.

What she could not do was answer questions about her emotions, especially at this moment, especially when she was feeling so many.

One of the strongest was relief. Things were going to be okay. The girl was no longer screaming, though she seemed to still be in slight pain. She didn't fully understand what Kelex had meant about the cryosleep system being 'bonded' into her system, but it seemed like a good thing, since it had helped to stave off the painful radiation.

Another was guilt. She could've done something, right? If she had seen the pod piece lodged in the tree, if she had brought a mediviewer to assess the girl and freed her earlier, if she had been faster, been stronger, been…just been better.

Somewhere else, there was anger. What capricious alien god had seen fit to destroy a world, to cast out some and destroy the rest? This girl had probably lost her entire family, and for what? For dramatic effect in the grand play that was the universe, she supposed. Why was there so much injustice in the universe? How could justice be the exception rather than the rule?

To take her mind away from those roiling emotions, she began to talk to the girl, to smooth her hair, to try and comfort her with her limited knowledge of the largest Earthic dialect that she had picked up from Aunt Astra's explorer reports. Her parents thought she didn't recognize the writing on the pod, but she knew more than she let on.

"This is the planet Krypton. I welcome you here to Krypton, under the watchful gaze of Rao. I know you must be tired, you must be scared. You will be safe here, under the light of Rao."

She chuckled wryly.

"Where is my etiquette? I know not if you can hear me, but I must of course introduce myself. My name is Kara Zor-El, daughter of Zor-El and Alura, scion of the Honorable Name of El. I would very much like to know yours."

Her voice lowered somewhat, tinged with emotion.

"I know nothing yet about you, but I saw the lightness in your eyes. It is my desire for us to view each other as friends, as _bysh,_ as we call them."

She continued, not noticing her companion's eyes start to flicker open.

"You are safe here, _bysh_. I will always do my best to protect you."

She did notice when the girl put a hand on her knee. Kara started and quickly glanced down to where the girl was looking meaningfully at the hand still running through her hair, which Kara quickly removed as she felt her cheeks flush slightly.

The girl sat up and looked at Kara full in the face.

"Thank you for everything, Kara Zor-El. My name is Lena Luthor, and I should very much like to be your _bysh."_


	4. Old Wounds, New Wounds

AN: Hey guys. I can't believe this story has already gotten more than a thousand views! I'm incredibly thankful to everyone who decided to take the time to read the ramblings of my superhero-obsessed psyche. There's one plan I'd like to share that I'd like some feedback on, and an announcement.

I'm most likely going to have a quote from _The Untold Story of El_ at the beginning of every odd chapter, and a flashback to Earth, like the one that begins this chapter, starting every even chapter. That's not set in stone, so I'd appreciate feedback on this subject if you'd prefer it a different way.

My announcement is that I published the first chapter of a new Supergirl story! It's called _Every Apocalypse Has To Start Somewhere_. I hope you enjoy it if you decide to give it a try.

Now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter 4: Old Wounds, New Wounds**

 _Years ago, on the doomed planet Earth…_

Leonard Luthor was, quite frankly, fed up with this whole charade. Earth was only months away from cracking, collapsing, exploding, imploding. It didn't matter which new theory of destruction the Corporatist scientists came up with. The only thing that mattered was that it was irreversible, without any hope of salvation. The more optimistic among his Evacuator Armies thought that, when the deadline approached, the Tycoons that observed from on high in their gilded stations would signal their commanders and drone soldiers to lay down their arms, to finally allow the Evacuators to build as many escape vehicles as they could.

But, as Leonard knew, had in fact always known, just by observing his brother, the Tycoons did not relent. Only the ones that had immediately come over to Leonard's side, Thomas Wayne and Robert Queen being two, supported him. The rest were never adequately convinced. They believed, and would always believe, that their factories were better used to manufacture more luxuries for themselves and more drones that they could eventually use to attack the Colonies and reimpose their dominion.

All in all, he supposed, his self-imposed crusade was going relatively well. All of LuthorCorp belonged to him now, as he had forced Lionel and Lillian to sign over all their assets before sending them to be jailed on New Terra. Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries had proven to be strong and worthwhile allies, dedicating the large majority of their assets towards evacuation craft and supplies. Cat Grant, another somewhat unexpected but very valuable ally, was mustering as much manpower from the Colonies to Leonard's side as she could, thanks to her propensity for inspiring speeches and her multi-billion dollar Colonywide Media venture.

He had also seized a small fleet of prototype star corvettes being developed by the neutral Lord Technologies, who were intending to auction them off to the highest bidder. Leonard wasn't keen to let any Corporatist general get their hands on them and use them to harass the Colonies or the fleeing evacuees, so he had personally led a unit which raided Lord's base buried under the wheat fields of the Great Plains to commandeer them. This had led to Theodore Lord throwing in with the rest of the Tycoons, but Leonard wasn't bothered much by that.

What was a few thousand more drone soldiers, right?

His musings were interrupted by the entrance of Alexandra Danvers, a young woman he had found in the ruins of National City who had quickly risen through his ranks to become one of his most trusted lieutenants.

Alexandra was not the most physically imposing, quickest, or most tactical of his top commanders, but he considered her to be the most dangerous because she had the perfect combination of all these factors.

He had once thought her forgettable, just another one of the endless ranks of the poor tossed aside by the Tycoons, whose only choices were to die on their feet with a beam-gun in their hands or die by the side of the street without remembrance.

Recent events forced him to reconsider that evaluation.

For it was not he who had defeated the 'Sawblade,' that soulless Corporate general whose war suit had mown down Evacuators by the hundreds, nor was it a Wayne Enterprises air drone or a Queen Industries mech warrior.

It was Alexandra Danvers, this enigma, this secret weapon of his, who stood now gazing at him with a faint smile on her weary visage, as if she could gauge the measure of his thoughts at a glance, her antique projectile rifle slung on her back as was customary.

Even her ghost of a smile faded, however, when he nodded at her, motioning for her to report.

"Grim news, sir. Wayne's scoutbots say the Sawblade is back, and he's escorting a huge fleet of Salvagers to break down what's left of National City."

 _On Krypton, in the present day…_

In-Ze paced the length of his study once more, a habit of his which had been increasing in frequency at an alarming rate in recent years.

Kara was alright, that was all that matters.

Even though he knew that was true, knew that crisis had been averted, he still worried, for the future of his House if nothing else.

When he was embraced by Rao, who would inherit the House of Ze? That was the question that haunted his waking moments, though it had left his dreams alone for now.

It could not be either of his daughters. Alura had already married into El, a superior House, and Astra's position as a general precluded her from inheriting major titles. This had been decided soon after the Upheaval, given that the most fanatical generals of the _Bethgr_ had been the ones to whom she had granted the largest lands. Her husband was a possibility, but, truth be told, In-Ze had never liked the man very much, and he was a commoner besides.

In theory, he could grant it all to Kara, and this is what he dearly wished to do. His granddaughter was a remarkable girl, talented in all her subjects and Guildless as well, and she had Alura and Zor-El to guide her after Rao called him on.

However, many of the other Houses would disapprove. Though Kara was not immediately in line for the House of El, her uncle Jor-El's fanatic disapproval of the probability matrix meant that any…natural offspring he had with his wife Lara would likely be disinherited by the Council, and Jor himself would lose his right to the title in the bargain, if not his full inheritance. In-Ze suspected that his old friend Lon-El would be bowing before Rao before long, so that would leave Zor, the younger son, in command of one of Krypton's foremost houses, with Kara being next in line.

All the other House leaders knew this, so they would likely try to find any method they could to prevent In-Ze from naming Kara as his heir.

He sighed. If only Kal-Ar hadn't lost his inheritance when he defied the probability matrix. If only his wife Erila had borne him one more child. If only Zor-El and Alura had another child…

Lena Luthor didn't quite know how to feel right now.

On one hand, the pain was gone. That was blissful beyond belief. In fact, she felt…perhaps invigorated was the best word for it. The air was warm but breezes blew, the red sun that was approaching the horizon cast everything in a radiance unlike anything she had ever seen, except in that small snippet of her strange dreams. The grass she lay in was unique, a strange shade of green that was almost blue, and which grew in a tubular shape not unlike some sort of noodle, far more beautiful than any of the cratered fields and burned yards that filled the ruined cities of Earth. Everything seemed right, more right than any experience on Earth ever did.

On the other hand, her experiences on Earth were over, forever. Even if her readouts had malfunctioned, even if she was on New Tibet and not somewhere completely different, as she was coming to believe, months had still passed. Earth was gone. Perhaps her uncle was gone, though she would give anything to make that false. Her Irish boarding school, the kitchen in their Reykjavik manor where she had learned to cook, the pond in France that had reminded her of Kara's eyes, all gone.

Wait a minute. Who was Kara? Was she the one who was currently running her fingers absently through Lena's hair as she talked, the one whose accent lilted and dipped in a way so different yet so similar to her own Irish brogue? The one whose hair shone brighter in the fading fiery light than Earth's sun ever had?

Of course she was. Lena put her hand on Kara's knee, trying to convey through a touch what she couldn't find the words to convey, perhaps couldn't ever convey, no matter how many dictionaries and thesauruses you gave her. Gratitude, for one. Calm confusion, for another. Acceptance, for a third.

Lena ignored the flush that came to Kara's cheeks (and by ignored, she meant filed away for later mental debate), and sat up. The words that Kara had spoken moments before, when she was still on that precipice between the dream world and the real one, were at the forefront of her mind, and she pushed through the dryness in her mouth (she hadn't spoken in at least months, after all), to convey at least a fraction of her thoughts in words, struggling to pronounce the foreign syllable that Kara had spoken.

"Thank you for everything, Kara Zor-El. My name is Lena Luthor, and I should very much like to be your _bysh_."

She couldn't help smiling herself as Kara gave her another flash grenade grin.

Always a proponent of science, Lena asked a question that had been somewhat bothering her before Kara could respond.

"How is it that you can speak English well? We are obviously not on any sort of Earth colony, and I don't believe we've ever had any sort of contact with other cultures."

Kara smiled even wider, something which Lena had concluded to be impossible.

"I thank you for the complimentary words. I believe my…English, you called it?"

At Lena's nod, Kara continued.

"I believe my English to be quite sub-standard. We here on Krypton have infrequently observed your people; we have those called Explorers who survey far distance planets and submit reports. My mother's sister Astra is quite interested in your people, and I have read all of her reports in such a way as to develop a slight knowledge of your culture and language."

Kara then pointed a finger towards the sky, as if she had remembered something that had been bothering her for a while.

"Kelex!"

At her cry, some sort of small floating robot zoomed towards them from somewhere below the curve of the hill where Lena hadn't seen it originally. Kara introduced it.

"This is my friend Kelex. He works for our family. I remember he has all of Astra's reports about Earth in his storage, one of which is about translation between English and Kryptonian. He also has a rapid transfer program to store data into people. If you are willing, he should be able to transfer to you at least a basic knowledge of Kryptonian, which you will need of course if you are to say here."

Kelex waved an appendage at Lena and said something in what Lena thought was probably Russian.

Kara laughed, which most certainly did not affect Lena in any sort of way.

"That is not English, Kelex. Try again."

Kelex switched through a few more languages (Lena heard Chinese and German, as well as two or three others), before correctly arriving at English.

"Hello miss. I am Kelex. It is nice to meet you."

Something which Kara had said earlier finally finished processing.

"Kara, you said something about me staying here earlier. What did you mean?"

Lena regretted what she said as soon as a look of worry overtook Kara's face.

"I meant…well…that is…only if you wanted…"

"Kara, slow down. I was just confused, that's all. Let's face it, I don't really have anywhere else to go, do I?"

At Kara's curious glance, Lena sighed.

"I suppose I haven't quite explained my heritage, have I? The name Luthor is a dangerous one among humans."

Before she could explain further, the two that she assumed were Kara's parents arrived, along with three figures dressed in robes of white and another who looked identical to Kara's mother, apart from a silver streak in her hair.

Kara shot up from the grass to hug the stern looking woman with the silver streak, and her gaze softened as she returned it.

Kara then bolted to one of the men in white, a distinguished looking fellow with a pointed goatee, giving him a hug as well.

While this was going on, Lena motioned to Kelex.

"I believe this will be much easier if we can all communicate in the same language. I wouldn't want Kara to have to translate everything."

Kelex seemed to nod.

"A moment, if you please. I must confirm that this will be okay with Chief Responder Kal-Ar."

He floated over to the distinguished man, who Lena guessed was some sort of doctor. They had a quick conversation, and the man looked over to Lena, as if gauging her worth, before smiling and nodding.

Kelex returned and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Kal-Ar determines that the risk is minimal. I must sedate you for the procedure to be effectual, but it should take only a small amount of minutes. You will not be able to speak perfectly when you first wake, as the synaptic connections will not be finished, but your understanding should be almost complete."

Lena shook her head in bemusement.

"I wish we had technology like this on Earth. Alright Kelex, go ahead."

Kara Zor-El was happy, pure and simple. Lena, her name was Lena. And she wanted to be Kara's friend!

It seemed like things were finally settling down, getting back to normal. At least this whole ordeal meant she got to see Aunt Astra and Great-Uncle Kal-Ar.

A thought struck her then. What was Lena going to do now? It sounded like she didn't want to go back to human space (Kara filed that away to ask Lena about some other time). Krypton had orphanages, of course, as Cythonna sometimes outmaneuvered Rao and snatched parents from their children, but that didn't seem good.

And then, as if Rao had whispered it in her ear, an idea arrived. As Kelex began to download the Kryptonian quick-learn programs into Lena's mind, Kara zoomed over to her parents.

"Mother! Father! Can Lena stay with us?"

"At least for a time," she amended quickly as her parents turned towards her, not wanting to seem too eager. "Until we can think of something else, perhaps?"

Zor-El gave a faint smile, and Kara knew that was a good sign.

"Of course, _inah_. In fact Alura and I were discussing this earlier. Considering the political outlook of our House, as well as the fact that you seem to have taken a liking to…Lena, you said?"

At Kara's enthusiastic nod, Zor chuckled slightly and continued.

"Taking that into account, Alura and I see no issue with letting Lena stay with us on a permanent basis. That is, unless she would rather be taken to an Earth colony."

Kara could barely believe what she was hearing.

Astra In-Ze could barely believe what she was seeing. At first, given that Kara had ran to her and pulled her into a tight hug, she hadn't noticed the girl who was now reclining on the grass under sedation, while Uncle Kal-Ar and his assistants performed tests on her and Kelex continued uploading his various programs.

Now though, she saw, and what she saw scared her. There she was, this girl who had plagued her dreams, at the end of the line, trading places with her own dearest Kara.

She was from Earth, it seemed. Astra supposed the rest of the alien figures were as well. Being asleep as she was, Astra couldn't really determine much about her.

Perhaps she wasn't even real? Perhaps Astra was dreaming some new strange dream?

As if in a trance, Astra strode towards the raven-haired girl out cold on the ground. She needed to touch her, to see if she was solid, just to make sure, right?

Astra walked by Kal-Ar, not really hearing what he said to his assistants. Something about a cryosleep system, an uncontrollable response, new autonomic functions?

Astra took the last few steps to reach the girl.

She didn't notice that the air grew colder with each one.

Astra knelt, and ran her eyes over the girl's slim frame, as if checking one of those under her command for injury.

She didn't notice that she could suddenly see her breath, or that her uncle looked over in concern and spoke her name.

Astra reached out her hand, running it over the girl's brow, which was surprisingly warm. Perhaps she had a fever?

She did notice when a pulse of cold, barely visible as a hemisphere tinted blue, blasted her away from the girl's prone form


End file.
